EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, JUNE 29, 1998 (MONDAY) Public Information Office CB98-107 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) Jennifer Day 301-457-2464 Hispanic Population Shows Gains in Educational Attainment, Census Bureau Reports Compared with a decade ago, the Hispanic population has experienced gains in educational attainment, according to a report released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The embargoed tabulations used in the report can be accessed at http://www.census.gov/ dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. After the release time, go to http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/educ-attn.html. The proportion of the Hispanic population ages 25 and over with a high school degree or higher increased from 51 percent in 1987 to 55 percent in 1997. During the same period, the proportion of Hispanics who had some college training increased about seven percentage points (from 22 percent to 29 percent), and those with a bachelor's degree increased about two points (from 8 percent to 10 percent). "Similar to the trend shown for the total population, educational attainment of younger Hispanics (those ages 25 to 29) was substantially higher than for older Hispanic age groups," said Jennifer Day, author of the report. The number of Hispanic young adults completing a bachelor's degree or higher rose from 9 percent in 1987 to 11 percent in 1997. The population data are for people of Hispanic origin who may be of any race. The report, Educational Attainment in the United States: March 1997, P20-505, makes these other points: The gap in high school completion between African Americans and Whites narrowed in the 25- to 29-year-old age group over the past decade to the point where there was no statistical difference in 1997. More than 4 in 10 (42 percent) of the Asian and Pacific Islander population ages 25 and over were college graduates; for Whites, it was 25 percent and for African Americans, it was 13 percent. The data are from the March 1997 Current Population Survey. As in all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error.-X-Editor's Note: The Public Information Office now has a media-access server for embargoed news releases and data sets. It is available to accredited media representatives only. To gain access, please contact us for a username and password. The media-access 0server's Internet address is http://www.census.gov/dcmd/www/embargo/embargo.html. We would appreciate any comments you may have about the site. The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
